EVIL DIVA - FOR ALL YOU LITTLE DEVILS OUT THERE

Now I know that some of you might find this very hard to believe, but on occasion, small children can really inspire your own creative juices. Heck, I'd even go so far than to say that they can make you develop a devilish webcomic too. Here, to justify my bold claim, why don't you read this conversation I had with my mate, Peter, only the other day, whilst sealing a blood-pack of satanic proportions.

1) What are your own origins, Peter? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today? In between sound editing jobs, I taught myself creative direction for print and packaging. After a brief stint as a Creative Director for 'Virgin Interactive', I left and started 'MCre8ive', which became 'Modul8tion' in 2007. To keep my creative staff from boredom during down times, we started toying with stories and characters. 'Evil Diva' grew out of that.

2) What inspired you to create the ‘Evil Diva’ webcomic? Actually it was my daughter. Her nickname was always 'The Diva' because of her crying. One day at Disneyland we're eating, and for some reason she said she was the 'Evil Diva'. I liked the sound of it and we started exploring characters at the office.

3) In your own words how would you describe this story? And do you have any publishing affiliations? Diva Beelze (pronounced bee-YELLS-uh) is an awkward pre-teen girl who wants to do good deeds. Trouble is, she's a devil, and her horns & tail get in the way. She lives in a neighborhood populated by Angels and Devils. The idea is these people work in Heaven and Hell, but they all live in the same suburb. She's odd and awkward, angels don't trust her and devils make her an outcast.

It's the same story that's played out in schoolyards everywhere, but the fantasy context we've come up with enables us to twist things in a way that resonates with our fans.

4) If ‘Evil Diva’ was a song, what song would it be and why? No one's ever asked that. I don't know if 'Evil Diva' has her own song! But Danny Elfman is definitely playing her soundtrack. Energetic and weird, that's 'Evil Diva'.

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5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your site, what person would you get, and why would you want to choose this particular person? William Shatner. For no other reason other than I've just always wanted to meet him. Also, he's the biggest man-diva in the history of show business.

6) What’s been the hardest obstacle to overcome whilst working on this project? Our original artist resigned in the middle of Issue 6. She was headed to bigger and better things and we wished her well, but, she left a gaping hole that was hard to fill. We went through several artists before we found a suitable replacement.

It was touch and go with the fans for a while, but we got through it.

7) If you could cast a movie based on your creation, who would you cast, and again, why? The fans actually started discussing that in the comments section once. As I recall it was Jack Black or Danny DeVito for Dad (both obvious choices), Cate Blanchett or Kate Winslett for mom (British Actresses do sarcasm better), Jennifer Lawrence for Angela (she can play hard and soft equally well). And Alan Rickman is DEFINITELY Virgil.

The biggest debate though was over Diva. I think most settled on Dakota Fanning (though that was a while ago and her sister Elle would be better casting now). Of course every red-headed actress alive came up; Isla Fisher, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Adams, Alyson Hannigan. Trouble is we've been doing 'Evil Diva' for years now and they keep aging out. I suppose when it comes time for the Evil Diva Movie there'll be at least a half-dozen alabaster skinned redheads in the Hollywood lineup to choose from.

8) During your time as a creator, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead? We've had our ups and downs, but I'd say it boils down to being true to the work, the characters and their stories. We always strive to give the fans what they want, but we've discovered that in order to do that, the correct question to ask in the course of storytelling is, "What would Diva do?".

9) If ‘Diva’ had a motto, what would it be? Can you make that a little bit cuter?

Ha! That's a good one, Peter. Very good indeed. So there you have it folks. 'Evil Diva' in a nutshell. When you have the time I'm sure you know what to do. Click-Click. Read-Read. And bask in it's heavenly story. Trust me. It's well worth a look.